Abstract
The synthesis, spectral (FT-IR and NMR), and structural studies of 1,1′-methylene linked 3,3′-2-cyanobenzyl bis-imidazolium salt (L
1
) and respective dinuclear Ag(I)-NHC complex (C
1
) are reported. The structures of both compounds were established through single-crystal X-ray diffraction. C
1
has a short Ag-Ag separation of 3.16 Å. Both L
1
and C
1
were tested for potential against leukemia (k562) cell line. For comparison, para-xylyl linked bis-benzimidazolium salts (L
2
-L
4
) and their dinuclear Ag(I)-NHC complexes (C
2
-C
4
) were synthesized and tested against the same cell line (K562). The IC
50
values proved that L
2
-L
4
and C
2
-C
4
are many fold more active than L
1
and C
1
. The mechanism of action and structure activity relationship are discussed. In vivo oral acute toxicity study (sighting study) was carried out which depicts that 2000 mg/kg dose of selected compounds is an appropriate and safe dose for conducting main study on animals.